Jumaldi Alfi Solo Exhibition

Jumaldi Alfi, born in 1973, is one of the most influential artists in the Indonesian contemporary art scenario. A practicing painter and a sculptor, Alfi came to international attention in the 1990s as one of the founding members of the Jendela Art Group. Jendela surprised audiences in Indonesia with refreshing works: removed from the omnipresent and socio-political themes in art, they were not falling into the trap of technical sophistication of realist painting either.

Instead, by drawing exclusively on minimal visual elements of line, colour and texture, they were showing an inclination for extreme naïvism and almost revolutionary formalism. Focusing on aesthetic and formal research within a personal territory, Jumaldi Alfi and Jendela group managed to introduce a fresh and dynamic style into contemporary Indonesian art.

Jumaldi Alfi is mostly known for his compelling iconography of visual signs reflecting the existential and spiritual experience on both individual and collective levels. Creating his own code of images, the artist draws on a wide scope of cultural references, from objects of the natural world, to Renaissance paintings, to the childhood memories of family life.

The new solo exhibition at ARNDT Singapore features Jumaldi Alfi’s recent series Melting Memories – Re-Reading Landscape, Mooi Indies (2013-14). In the Melting Memories series, the artist relies on the “Mooi Indie” colourful style and poetic pastoral themes. Better known as “Indonesia Molek”, this genre was particularly popular in the Dutch colonial times and exemplified the nostalgic visions of the Dutch East Indies and its landscapes. By placing his focus on ‘Mooi Indie’ paintings, Jumaldi is examining the potential historical roots of modern and contemporary Indonesian painting.

Jumaldi Alfi studied at the Indonesian Institute of Arts in Yogyakarta until 1999. He participated in several Art Fairs including “Hong Kong International Art Fair”, “Art Stage Singapore” and “Shanghai Art Fair”. Jumaldi Alfi was nominated for the 10th Indonesian Art Awards (2003, Finalist) and the 5th Indonesian Art Awards, The Best Painting Awards, Indonesian Insitute of Art (ISI), Yogyakarata, Indonesia (1998, Finalist).